Acer Chromebase 24 Review

The Acer Chromebase 24, overall, is an exercise in safety. There’s no innovation or taken risks, but there are also very few misses as a result. A solid build, solid performer, and overall ‘pretty good’ experience makes this device a forgettable one, but a functional one as well.

For our review, we tested the absolute base model obtained from Walmart for only $429. And, being honest, that is one of it’s biggest selling points. For $429, this thing is really good.

Here’s the spec rundown:

24″ 1080p IPS Display at 250 nits

5th Gen Intel Celeron 3215U

4GB RAM

16GB Internal Storage

4 USB Ports (3 are 3.0)

HDMI Out

Full Size SD Slot

Aluminum Adjustable Stand

For fuller details you can watch the review in video form below, but there’s also a quick rundown right after.

Screen

The first element you see is the screen, and it is pretty good. At this size, I prefer QHD (2560×1440) because this size of a screen really can make great use of all those extra pixels. I work from a 25″ QHD screen every day and the difference was quickly apparent. Though it wasn’t as sharp as I’d like, it wasn’t that bad. The colors were pretty warm, but again, if I didn’t have it next to a $400 monitor, perhaps it wouldn’t have been so noticeable.

The model we tested didn’t include the touch screen, but you can get this exact model with touch for $499. One of the biggest issues was glare. As you can see in the video, there is a sizable gap between the outer panel and the actual screen. This is always a recipe for glare. The stand also gives about 30 degrees of adjustment which helps offset the glare a bit.

Build Quality

Overall, the build of the Chromebase 24 is pretty solid. The base is all aluminum and substantial. There’s no wobbling or cheap-feeling elements here. The sizable bezel is one of the few things that gives off a cheap vibe. It’s just shy of 2 inches thick and for no real apparent reason. Again, it didn’t bother me until I set it next to my monitor that has 1/4″ bezels. At that point it looked almost ridiculous.

The speaker grill under the screen is pretty attractive and the speakers inside are pretty decent. I wish there was an upgradable option, because with that space they could get some nice sound. As it stands, they are average.

Performance

For a base model, the device performed very, very well. I worked from the Chromebase 24 exclusively for a full week and never really had an issue. I believe Chrome OS is getting better at RAM management and this has been very apparent with the Chromebase 24. Not once did I think about memory. And, with a consistent Octane score of just over 16K, it chewed through everything I threw at it.

The day of cheaper Chrome OS devices being all you need is finally arriving, I think. I was honestly very impressed.

Wrap Up

So, the short version is: The Acer Chromebase 24 is a competent, useful machine. Almost everything screams ‘pretty good.’ There wasn’t a standout feature or a point I found myself amazed, but I wasn’t disappointed either.

About Robby Payne

Tech junkie. Musician. Web Developer. Coffee Snob. Huge fan of the Google things. Founded Chrome Unboxed because so many of my passions collide in this space. I like that. I want to share that. I hope you enjoy it too.